Medical devices such as drug infusion pumps are used to treat various ailments and conditions through the delivery of pain medication, anti-spasmatic agents, chemotherapeutic agents, and other pharmaceutical agents. In treating these ailments, the drug infusion pumps can periodically require refilling through a fill access port. In addition, access ports can be provided for bolus injections.
Typically, these devices are placed in fatty tissue under the skin. Access to the ports often is obtained by piercing the skin with a needle or syringe and guiding the syringe through the access port. However, many problems arise in locating the access port and accurately inserting the needle.
If the needle is inserted in the skin at a location relatively far from the access port, the patient can experience additional pain and tissue damage. This tissue damage can be caused by attempting to stretch the tissue and skin to move the needle into position. Alternately, a patient can be stuck in more than one location in an attempt to find the proper location for accessing the port. This repeated sticking and/or jogging of the needle ultimately causes pain, discomfort and tissue damage to the patient.
In addition, attempts to stick the syringe or needle into the access port can cause damage to the needle tip. This damage can scar or core the access port when the needle is inserted or withdrawn, causing a channel or tunnel to be created in the access port. The channel or tunnel can ultimately lead to leaking of pharmaceutical solutions.
As such, typical port access systems suffer from deficiencies in indicating a location of the port and allowing easy and accurate access to the port. Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.